1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a printing control apparatus for controlling a printing process on recording media according to printing information input from a data processing apparatus received via a particular communication medium wherein the recording media are fed one by one to a printing mechanism and ejected out of the main part of a printer. The invention also relates to a printing method with the printing control apparatus and to a storage medium on which a computer readable program is stored.
2. Description of the Related Art
With rapid advances in office automation, it becomes necessary to transfer an increasingly large amount of data from a host computer to a printer so as to perform a greater number of printing jobs.
In an increasingly large number of cases, a single printer is used in a plurality of different manners as required. For example, when a draft document is printed or when test printing is performed, a low resolution is employed. On the other hand, a high resolution is employed for a document to be used in a meeting or for a document including a high-definition image. Plain paper is used for an ordinary document whereas OHT paper is employed when a document for a meeting is printed. In some cases, printing is performed on thick paper such as an envelope. Special types of paper such as high gloss paper are also used.
One technique to deal with various resolutions and various types of paper is to change the feeding speed for paper passing through various printing mechanisms in a printer such as a laser beam printer, depending on the purpose. More specifically, when high resolution is required, the speed of transferring a toner image to paper is changed. To deal with various types of paper, the heating time in the fixing process may be changed to fuse toner to a higher degree.
However, in conventional printers, the time from the start of a printing operation to ejection of paper output of the printer is determined only by the paper transport distance and the size of paper. Therefore, in printers of the type in which the resolution is varied by varying the paper transport speed, it is impossible to calculate the paper ejection time. This can cause a problem such that when a jam occurs a particular page is skipped without being printed or a particular page is printed a plurality of times. A similar problem can also occur in a printer of the type in which the paper feeding speed is varied depending on the type of paper.
Some printers include a sensor disposed near a paper ejection slot so that ejection of paper is detected by the sensor. However, in this type of printer, it is required to vary the intervals or the timing of paper ejection detection, depending on the paper feeding speed. This requires a complicated mechanism and complicated control.